The narrative is: Canadian guy meets Hiroshima gal, then they have a couple of baby girls. The lighter side of bicultural parenting.

April 30, 2007

Baby Massage!! and a visit from some of my co-workers

Naomi and I are big fans of massages and recently we had the opportunity to learn about the art of infant massage. (This resulted in a series of extremely cute photos. I will, however, refrain from posting too many of them.) The instructor was a well-intentioned, very nice and very nouveau hippy-ish lady who has been instructing new parents on how to massage their new babies at the hospital where Naomi gave birth. She showed us a variety of techniques and explained the theory behind infant massage, i.e. that touch promotes brain growth, digestion and a host of other benefits.Lady E’s initial reaction to Naomi’s massaging was an endearing look of bewilderment. After awhile, though, and many extremely loud cries later, we figured out she doesn’t like her back rubbed. It must be “a toddler thing” because both her parents are huge fans of getting a massage. Anyway, we decided to take the slow exposure route. Naomi is still adjusting her massage regimen and we are keeping at it because it’s an interesting concept, albeit not easy with a squirming little person. Lady E. seems to be coming around to the idea, though. When she’s in her thirties, no doubt she will long for a Thai massage, just like her parents do now. Everyday.

One of the many pleasures I have in the course of doing my job is the presence of my co-workers, many of whom are female. Of course, as a confirmed “oya abaka” (best translated as “extremely doting parent”) I bore the hell out of other staffers at my office with photos, what-I-consider-interesting baby stories and the URL for this blog! Lucky for us, Elena manages to charm them with her magical drooling powers. Anyway, a few of them came over recently for a grin and grip session with Lady E.

Thanks for coming to visit, ladies, for two reasons: 1) We are always pleased to have visitors come and say hi and meet our lilttle rugrat and 2) it gives me a chance to brag about Naomi’s kickass debut as a mother and show off the amazing progress our beloved bundle of joy is making. Elena is now 16 weeks old as of this writing, and has vowed to kick the booze and smokes for health reasons.